Psalms 78:49 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

By sending evil angels among them— I join the latter end of this verse to the beginning of the next (says Mudge) in one sentence, which is a very noble one. He nicely weighed or marked out a mission of evil angels, to be a path for his anger. This refers to his slaying the first-born, which is described as performed by a destroying angel. The path of his anger is considered as a certain width or extent of destroying powers, which he exactly measured out. He renders the whole verse thus, He measured out a mission of evil angels, to be a path for his anger; spared not their persons from death, and delivered over their cattle to the pestilence. Others by evil angels, understand the various plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians by the ministry of evil angels. Or, possibly, the plagues themselves may here be figuratively called evil angels or messengers, as they were the messengers of death and evil to them. See Exodus 12:23.